


Wings Wrapped Tight

by Oparu



Series: The Bottomless Sea 'Verse / Dragon Outlaw Queen ficlets [20]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Family Fluff, Gen, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-12
Updated: 2017-04-12
Packaged: 2018-10-18 04:50:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10609617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oparu/pseuds/Oparu
Summary: When her parents are not answering their phones (it’s not a crisis, the sky isn’t on fire, they must be in a meeting), Lily has to look after her siblings. Lily had no one for most of her life, and now she’s got to make dinner for seven and chase a toddler--WTF is her life.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This talks a little about the baby they lost, and healing after that. It's mild, but is discussed. Definitely on Lily's mind.

 

_ Your mother, Robin, and I are going to be indisposed for a few hours, could we let the daycare and the school know, just in case?  _

She said sure. Of course. It’s a Tuesday and she only has to work breakfast. It’s not like she had much planned beside catching up on Netflix. Sure. She can be the phone person for a couple hours. What can happen in a couple hours? 

She’d just started the microwave when her phone rings. She let the microwave finish but part of her knew she won’t get to eat it. Her phone never rang, Mom barely understood how to text and Regina’s always so polite that she texted because Lily might be at work. Robin got it, she’s quieter than her siblings. He texted.

Granny texted, but she already worked. It would not be Granny. 

“Hello?”

“Hello, Lily, this is the daycare. I’m sorry to bother you, but Mayor Mills put your name down today and Ignacia has a fever.”

Of course she did, she was a dragon. 

Lily sat on the phone in silence. What came next? 

“Do you want me to come get her?”

“Please, I think she should be at home. It’s daycare policy not to keep the children when they have a fever, just in case they’re contagious.”

“Sure, sorry, I’m not usually the person who gets these calls.” Any calls about responsibility, in fact. “Be right there.”

Lily hung up and teleported. She had gotten a lot better at it once she’d realized it was basically just like stepping through a portal in a video game. Stop thinking about it like magic, make it in terms she understood, then boom. You're there. 

The very polite fairies weren’t ready for immediately to be that immediate. Right, only a handful of people in town teleport and Regina was probably too thoughtful to do it often. Here she was, standing in a cloud of smoke. Nice. 

Lily sighed. “I’m here to pick up Iggie?" 

The fairy looked at her blankly. What color was this one. Mauve?  

"Ignacia Mills, I mean. She's sick?" 

That got some recognition. Use the last name. Regina got things done. "Of course, my apologies, she's right here."

They walked through the other kids to a little room where Iggie sat with a puzzle. She didn't look red, she wasn't in tears. She's a fucking dragon and they don't get it. No wonder Mom forgot to be polite about them. Moths had more sense. 

Iggie looked up from the puzzle, probably sensing Lily's magic, because the little one got to be a dragon from the first and she just got it in a way Lily never did. 

"Lily, I got puzzle." She waved a piece in Lily's direction and grinned. 

"You do." Lily crouched down next to her, patting her dark curls. She's warm, sure, but only dragon warm. She wasn't sick. Lily only had to shut her eyes for a moment to know that. Maybe Magenta was new. "You want to come with me? You can do your puzzle tomorrow." 

Iggie stared at the puzzle for one more moment, then nodding, smiling like a firework went off. She ran to Lily, hugging her tight. "With you." 

"Put your puzzle back, kid."

Iggie smiled again and ran back to it, a flurry of fat little legs in her cute little dress. Her parents picked out the most ridiculously adorable things for her to wear. Ruffles are ridiculous, but it has a dragon on it. Of course it does. Kid got nothing but dragons, apples and archery stuff for her birthday. Emma got her a fox, for Robin, and Lily and Emma might have been the only people at the party who got it, but it was funny. 

"I'm sorry," the fairy said gently. Sage, her nametag said Sage. Not even a red. "It's just to be on the safe side, I know the notes say her temperature might be higher but it's higher than she usually is." 

Did she just wring her hands? Mayor Mills is probably pretty intimidating. Robin's all quiet and deadly belong the surface and Mom is a dragon. Why doesn't Lily get any of that benefit of the doubt dragon-ness? Does she need an animated film? 

"Yeah, no worries. Iggie and I will find something to do." 

Iggie put the puzzle back and ran to Lily, arms up to be picked up. "We go home?"

"Yeah, home. We can watch TV."

"Betflick."

"Yeah, betflick kid. That's it." Lily smirked and Iggie wrapped her arms around her neck. At least someone was content and happy about the way the day was going. They gave her paperwork, when Iggie's nap was and what she'd eaten. She sure ate fine for a sick kid. Stuffing that paper into Iggie's little backpack, Lily teleported them to Regina's. Mom's, Robin's, Henry's...technically it was everyone's house. She even had a room there, but it's Regina's. 

Iggie seemed content to be carried, babbling away about her puzzle and how it had a dog and a cat but not a dragon. Lily put her backpack away, made sure there were diapers, checked the fridge and then looked at her little sister. 

"So, little dragon, what should we do?" 

Iggie scrunched up her face (like Regina), as if she was asking for something naughty. "Play playdoh." 

"Play playdoh?" Lily laughed. That was only a minor mess, and she knew where that was in the playroom. "All right. Playdoh it is." 

They'd made little playdoh dragons and snacks for dragons and the dragons were in the block castle when her phone chirped. Three o'clock. Roland time, her alarm said. Right. Pick up the other kid from the bus stop. 

"You want to go get Roland?"

Iggie stopped playing with her dragon (it had a roar and could turn into a person, because the castle door was small). She nodded enthusiastically. "I have to go poop on the potty."

"Right." That. "Okay, come on." She followed Iggie to the bathroom and helped her get her diaper and her leggings off while Iggie told her that she got ice cream sometimes for going poop on the potty.

"You know, I might have to do that myself, kid." 

Kids and poop. Somehow, they survived. And going poop on the potty was the first thing Iggie told Roland when he stepped off the bus. 

Teleporting was the only way Lily had gotten there on time, and appearing in a poof of smoke made the kids on the bus' eyes get big. Iggie wanted down when Roland was there and then they walked back, Roland very protectively holding Iggie's hand while he listened to how she'd gone poop on the potty. 

"Mommies and Papa will be proud of you," he said with the vast sageness of a seven-year-old. 

Robin had stayed Papa, and Mama was reserved for Marian. Mom was Regina or Mal, which delighted them both to no end. Regina was often still Regina, and sometimes Mal was Mally, or dragon, because Roland liked to be like Robin, but...they were both unquestioningly Mommy to Iggie, so they were Mommy to Roland. 

Lily hadn't made that slip yet. Mom was enough. Regina was Mom on special occasions only because it made her cry nearly as hard as Mom did for the littlest things, and it was kind of wonderful, kind of terrifying. 

Two kids was a lot less work than one, she realized when they got back to Regina's. Iggie wanted to be with Roland, follow him around, play near him, so she just had to make sure they got a snack, had some juice, washed their hands...

And went pee in the potty. Which was less of an adventure than poop, less messy, but surely no less worthy of praise. Some kids science show got them through until four-thirty, and then Henry was home, and teenagers were fucking loud compared to the little ones, his feet thumped and he ran upstairs.

"I'm going to be late for my riding lesson," he yelled down.

"How late? Like, we'd be late if we drove, or even if we poof over there we're still late?"

"Hey Lily, sorry." He appeared at the top of the stairs, changing shirts in a rush. "I forgot. Robin's usually home and he doesn't teleport. We're good."

"Henry!" Roland yelled up. "We get ice cream."

"We do?" Henry gave Lily a sympathetic look because he obviously knew how this went. "Why do we get ice cream?"

Iggie looked at her brother, started to giggle and ran to the stairs. "I pooped in the potty."

"You did! That's great." 

Poop and enthusiasm. Life with kids. 

"We can get ice cream after dinner." Henry finished changing and thumped down the stairs. He scooped up Iggie and pretended to eat her little face. "But I'm hungry now!"

"No!"

"I'm hungry for special ice cream."

Squealing with glee, Iggie pretended to try and get away. Badly. "No!!"

"Dragon ice cream!" Which meant more squealing, running into the living room and having some kind of tickle-tackle party on the couch. 

Kids.

Henry met her eyes over the little ones and shrugged. "I get done with riding at six, if you'd pick me up?"

"Sure." Lily grabbed her phone and set another alarm. Henry at six, and she probably had to start dinner. Kids needed to be fed and pizza was always an option, but Iggie deserved something special.  Pizza had been special in most of her group homes, but here it wasn't. In Regina's house, cooking was special. Cooking was a family thing and meant even Iggie got to help. 

So she'd have to cook something. Chili? Breakfast for dinner? Was there a meal plan somewhere she should be following? Lily slipped into the kitchen while Henry got his boots on and the little ones did not help at all. The fridge did indeed have a meal plan. Today was pasta. 

Great. That she could do, and garlic bread, which in Regina's house was the real stuff, so maybe she should start that after she dropped Henry off? How long did it take? She'd have to look it up. Google would know. 

Roland grabbed her hand and dragged her to the foyer and then they were off, stables. So Roland and Iggie could pet all the horses and talk to them and were they going to get home in time even start dinner? Roland wanted to see the ponies (there was talk of him getting one) and Iggie wanted to touch everything and laugh at piles of horse poop. (Kids and poop). 

Iggie wasn't a big enough dragon to freak the horses out, but they shifted uneasily when Lily walked by. Must have been able to smell it. 

The barn next to the horses had sheep, so they go pet those (who are always kind of uneasy, they're sheep) and Iggie buried her hands in a sheep and laughed, and a goat licked her face, because goats are afraid of nothing. There were big dogs to watch the sheep and plenty of barn to wander around in and the kids were so excited about everything. 

Literally everything. 

They were still in the barn when Henry found them after his lesson.

Iggie waved at him frantically. "Henry, sheeps. One sheep, two sheeps."

"Three sheeps," Roland continued, laughing. He knew it was sheep but Iggie didn't and counting was so new for her. 

"Yeah, Iggie, I see them."

"Sheeps are soft."

"They are!" He rubbed her curls. "Are you a sheep? You seem pretty soft."

"No, not a sheep. I dragon."

"I know, Ziggy." 

Lily smirked, because someone's going to have to put her in David Bowie makeup someday, dammit Emma. 

"Go home," Iggie asked, tugging at Henry's arm. "I hungry."

"Yeah, me too." Henry scooped her up, pretending to groan that she was heavy. "It's pasta night."

"Found that on the fridge." 

He smirked and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, Mom's like that."

"At least it's not a chore wheel." 

Henry raised an eyebrow. 

"Ask Emma. It's kind of an inside joke." She pictured Regina's house, ready to teleport. "Come here, little merry dragons." 

In a whoosh of magic, they're back, Iggie bouncing until Lily could get her shoes off, Roland tearing his off and running into the living room and his toys. Henry pulled off his boots more sensibly and hung up his coat. 

"I'm sure they'll be back soon, probably just needed some time." He patted her shoulder. "You okay?"

What was she supposed to say? "Yeah, totally fine."

"I know it's frightening."

Getting lectured by a kid. She shivered.  "Yeah, just a bit."

"They're okay." 

Well yeah, most of them were okay. Lily sank down to the stairs, head in her hands. Trying was one thing. Mom had been tired last week, sleepy when they went to the movies. That was how it started, how she was both times. Now Mom would be tired, maybe she'd have a headache, run a fever. 

Put herself in danger and end up bleeding out in the woods somewhere. 

Lily couldn't even look at Henry. "I don't know how they do this."

"We're family. We do it together. Even when it's scary, or overwhelming." He put his arm around her shoulder. When did he get so tall? "They've been really happy."

That meant yeah, they were trying, and this appointment taking such a long time suggested that they'd succeeded. They'd check things the real world way, then the magic way. They were probably curled up in the vault right now, taking a moment before they tell them. 

Lily lowered her head into her hands. "Fuck."

Resting his head on her shoulder, Henry started to hug her. "She hasn't been sick. It's not like it was with Iggie."

"That was bad." Lily shuddered, shaking her head. Mom was always feverish, or her head hurt, and she threw up, a lot. The next time was better but then came the wraith in the snow, and Regina's choked voice over the phone and she was about to throw up just from the memory. "She died before."

"My Mom killed her."

That death didn't stick, but with Roland, with the wraith, that had nearly stuck. Normal death, that could have really killed Maleficent. There's no magical coming back from that. 

"And we have your Mom over for Thanksgiving, things are weird." Lily swallowed, hard. There was beer in the fridge. That would help. "We need to feed the little ones." 

"Pasta's easy. There's sausage in the fridge, peppers." Henry nudged her again. "I'll even let you put wine it in." 

Lily laughed. "Can't I drink it?" 

"Not all of it, Mom and Robin are probably going to want some." 

"As if Mom would ever let us run out of wine." Lily dragged herself off the steps. 

Henry followed her to the kitchen. She dug into the fridge for peppers, sausage, and an onion and he was there when she shut the door. 

"You called her mom."

"Yeah, Mom."

"Not  _ your _ mom, you just said Mom." 

"Well--" Shit. Regina was her mom. It was fine. It didn't matter.  

"It's okay, you know." Henry handed her a glass of red wine and grinned. "She's your mom. Robin's basically your dad."

"Don't push it."

Henry laughed and passed her a knife. "It'll be okay, you know." 

Gulping her wine, she sighed and let it heat her throat. "Yeah, I know." 

"Do you?"

"I never had this before, you know. A house, parents who really got me, who liked me. A kid brother who was too smart for his own good." 

Henry smirked at her. "I know, Roland's a handful, isn't he?" 

She tossed the pepper stem at him, and he retaliated with onion skin. "Nice."

"Learned from the best." 

Dinner got made. Iggie only threw some of the noodles with her fork. She wanted to use one all the time even though she was not neat with it. Couldn't even really aim at the noodles but damn did she want to try. 

Lily had pasta sauce in her hair when the parents finally got home. Mom, who hugged her so tight that Lily felt the heat of her. Well, fuck. Mom who had been crying, and smiling, and her eyes were red but she was so happy she glowed when she looked at Robin. Mom who hugged her more carefully until Lily gave up and clung to her. She needed this mom too, and Robin.  _ Dad _ . Fuck it all. 

He's the one who ended up sitting with her on the deck with a couple of glasses of whiskey. 

"So it worked, huh? You're Dad, again, for what, the third time?"

Robin laughed, beaming at her. "Maleficent is perfectly healthy, and along with Regina, we're ecstatic." 

"Great." Whiskey burned better than wine, but it didn't chase the knot in her stomach. 

His arm slipped around her shoulders, like Henry, but bigger, stronger. "Yes, I suppose, though... We do often think of your sister. We love her. This doesn't change that."

"Yeah." Her poor dead little sister. She couldn't drink enough to get over that one, didn't even want to try. Stupid dragon liver ruined getting wasted anyway. 

"It's all right to be apprehensive, we were." 

"Yeah, I bet it's kind of a nightmare."

"Yes and no." Robin squeezed her, then released her shoulder, sitting back. "We love our children, we love raising all of you, just as we love Fia."

"And you're all greedy and want another one." 

"Greedy?" He chuckled and clinked their glasses together. "Perhaps. I prefer to think of it as we're united. We love children, we want another one, together. Making a baby is one of the most intimate, precious things you can experience with a person."

"Or two."

He winked at her. "Indeed." 

"Fine, Dad, bring that up." She groaned into her whiskey but he stared at her. 

"Lily?" 

"I know it sound really fucking weird."

"No, no." He leaned in and met her eyes, holding her shoulder. "It's rather wonderful."

"Okay. It's just today, don't get--"

"I will not take it for granted, I promise." 

Lily shut her eyes, then hugged him, holding him tight enough that she nearly spilled her whiskey. "I love you guys, all of you. I need you to be okay." 

"We will be." Robin promised, hugging her back. "We're family." 


End file.
